Phantom's Pain
by MRS.ErikMassenet
Summary: The Phantom finds a girl that calls him an Angel. They save each other, but what does the Phantom feel when Christine grows up, and Raoul comes to whisk her away? Will he live life erasing the man that falls in love or will he be the man that Christine sees him to be?
I have just dabbled a little, and love Phantom of the Opera so I thought I would be team Erik. This fic will end with Christine ending up with Raoul like the movie, but I will be more involved in Erik's feelings and motives. I just want people to understand him more. This will be based off of Gaston Leroux's novel a little and very based off of the 2004 movie version, since I like that version best.
Disclaimer:I wish I owned Phantom of the Opera, but sadly I don't. I don't own any of these characters, but I do love writing about them so I will settle for that.

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 _My mother grabbed my hand. She was taking me to the stream that I loved near our village in France. I felt the wind on my face. It felt glorious. Wait, my face? Since when did Mama let me go anywhere without my mask. I would worry about it later. Right now the wind felt so good that I wasn't going to question anything. I looked around me. Where were we? I had never seen this part of the village before. "Mama I thought we were going to the stream?" She ignored me. "Mama?" She looked back at me, only it wasn't Mama, it was a demon in Mama's clothing. I looked before me, and saw the caravan of gypsies. I tried to scream, but there was no sound. I tried to wrench free, but the demon dug its talons into my flesh. All of the gypsies looked back, and laughed. I tried to run, but the wind pulled at me with such a force that it was all I could do to move at all. I screamed over and over, but all that could be heard was the awful, awful laughing of those horrible people. "Help me! Help me! Someone, anyone, help me please!"_

I woke from the dream in a cold sweat, and my throat was raw. _Oh no! I was really screaming!_ I wanted to beat my head against a wall. Not only would my voice not sound good for the lessons with Christine, but also someone might have heard me. The last time I screamed from a nightmare it took Marie months before she would let me sleep without her watching over me.

 _Why was I having this stupid dream?!_ I was a 20 year old man. Why did I have stupid nightmares. Especially ones that I hadn't had since I had been in the circus, and even then I had stopped having this dream. I was the Phantom. I didn't have time for silly mortal things like fear or nightmares.

I got up, and stretched my legs. _Well as long as I was awake, it didn't hurt to go see what my angel was up to._ I walked around my home grabbing my mask as I went. Thinking about how today's lesson had gone.

FLASHBACK

" _Angel? Where are you?" Christine asked in a sing-songy voice. I waited behind the door just a bit longer before entering the darkest corners of the chapel. I took a deep breath, and entered. Her small little 12 year old frame was on her tippy toes looking for me. She was the only person in the world that had ever seen the good in me. Okay, okay so maybe she didn't see the good in me, but how many people will ever call me Angel. It's nice to be the light in someone's life. All I had ever been called was devil's child, or walking death, or ghost, or phantom. When she called me Angel that first time I saw her in the chapel it was like I was one of the only people that could help her. "Angel I've been working on the aria you gave to me." She called to me. "Let me hear what you have so far child" She took a deep breath, and began to sing. I had written this aria especially for her. She had twice the range of any singer at the opera house. The song she was singing was perfect for her. It spoke of love, sadness, grief, and the ability to find hope in even the darkest of times. It was one of the best pieces I had ever written. I usually don't write the more hopeful pieces that well, but ever since this child has come into my life I have felt more than I ever had. I was her protector, and she was my muse. She stopped singing, and looked about before bidding me farewell. Just before she left I came a little more out of the shadows, and told her how well she had progress. Before I had even been able to anticipate any movement on her part she ran, and jumped into my arms giving me the biggest hug her little frame could offer. She then ran down the stairs, and hurried to practice._

END OF FLASHBACK

I walked up the stairs, and hurried to the main opera house by the theater. I was about to go visit Marie when I heard voices in the main corridor. I went to investigate, and saw the new stagehand Joseph Bouquet with one of the dancers. He was obviously drunk, and she was trying to get away from him. She was struggling, but it was obvious that she was a little tipsy too. I decided to watch, and deduce the situation before stepping in. Bouquet was trying to bring her closer to him for a kiss, and she was trying to break out of it. He wasn't taking the hint all that well, and I was about to step in when he passed out. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I knew that I would have to keep my eye on that Bouquet. He looked like he would be a lot of trouble.

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A/N I know this is a little OOC for Erik, but I needed something to show what Erik's fears would be when he wasn't the Phantom. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to add more about Erik's early life or just go through the story from Erik's POV. Please give me your suggestions!


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